


Like a Name in a Fairy Tale

by Villinye (AslansCompass)



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-22
Updated: 2014-02-22
Packaged: 2018-01-13 08:39:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1219789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AslansCompass/pseuds/Villinye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tell her, this is the story of Amelia Pond. And this is how it ends. --Amelia Pond, the fairy-tale girl. Like Dorthy and Wendy, she met the most wonderful wizard and lived inside a story. Spoilers for the Pond era, especially Angels Take Manhattan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like a Name in a Fairy Tale

**Author's Note:**

> * * *

Sunlight brushes across a sleeping form, head still resting on hands. In an hour, Tabitha Pond will wake and ask her daughter what on earth she was doing outside, but at the moment, everything is quiet.

A soft moaning sound echoes from the ruins of the garden shed. Amelia's eyes flutter open just as the blue box materializes. Someone steps out, glancing from side to side. She doesn't recognize him at first–he's wearing a brown jacket and a bowtie, but it's still him. The Raggedy Man. "You came back," she yawns. "I knew you would."

"Amelia Pond," he says softly. "Do you like fairy tales?"

"What kind? Is it a good one, like Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz?"

"No! That one's rubbish! I'm talking a good one, like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. All those stories–I helped write some of them, you know." He walks over and sits down next to her suitcase. He's got glasses on now, funny ones like Rory's grandma wears when he visits her at the home.

"What kind of story?"

"Oh a good one. The best. One day, there was this crazy wizard who wanted to run away from home. So he stole a magic box and ran away. I always thought he borrowed it, but someone told me I was wrong." He glares over the rim of his glasses. "And he ran through time, seeing everything that ever happened, from the Roman Empire to gunslingers and cowboys. But he was lonely. So, so lonely."

"Did he have a princess to rescue?"

"What?"

"All heroes have to fall in love."

"Oh, do they now?" He tweaks her nose. "Yes, he had a princess. Her hair was like Rumplestiltkin's gold, curled and tangled like old vines. She hated him–"

"But not really," Amelia corrects. "Because she has to love him. That's how it goes."

He whispers a name under his breath. "But before he meets his princess, he found a little girl in a garden. And they went on so many adventures together. She met a giant whale, lost among the stars, and showed it the way home. She fought a shipload of pirates, and vanquished them all. She slew vampires and saved dinosaurs. Her red hair, brighter than sunflowers, reminded a lonely painter of daylight.

"But most of all, she loved a wonderful, wonderful man. A man who waited two thousand years to see her face again. A man who could defy death for her sake. A man never gave up, and could give one hell of a punch," he rubs his jaw. "He looked like a young, quiet man, but those who threatened his wife learned otherwise. Nothing could stand in his way."

A curtain flutters in an open window upstairs. "Amelia!" someone calls softly. "Amelia, wake up."

The man startles. "Amelia, you have to listen to me. You'll have amazing adventures, beyond your wildest dreams. You'll see terrifying monsters and beautiful sites. You'll have a family that loves you more than life. But not yet."

"Amelia!" The call is louder this time.

"Amelia Pond, you are magnificent." He gets down on one knee, placing both hands on her shoulders. "Wait for me. _Please_."

She nods.

"Amelia Jessica Pond!" Someone screams inside. "What happened to the kitchen?"

Her eyes squeeze shut. She feels his kiss on her forehead, soft and sad.

When she opens them, he's gone.


End file.
